After US lawmakers failed to enact a comprehensive digital asset market structure bill, federal regulators accelerated efforts to adjust oversight and enforcement rules for crypto companies and digital asset offerings.
Leadership gaps at key crypto regulators
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the two chief US agencies responsible for digital asset oversight, are now experiencing severe shortages at the leadership level. Between them, only three people currently hold top positions responsible for shaping digital asset policy, with two of those originally nominated by US President Donald Trump.
At the SEC, just Chair Paul Atkins and commissioner Mark Uyeda remain in office after the departure of Commissioner Hester Peirce earlier this month. The SEC is meant to have five commissioners, yet now only two occupy seats. The situation at the CFTC is even more acute, with Michael Selig serving as the sole Senate-confirmed chair and commissioner since December 2025; the CFTC also has a five-member mandate.
Both agencies have continued advancing new regulatory proposals with the aim of filling legislative gaps left by Congress’s inaction on cryptocurrency rules.
SEC expands rulemaking authority with quorum revision
In August, the SEC introduced rules to grant a safe harbor to companies, shielding digital tokens from classification as “investment contracts.” In October, the CFTC proposed exchange-focused regulations, with Michael Selig confirming that the agency intends to exercise its “existing statutory authorities” for crypto oversight. On October 2, Atkins signaled further regulatory plans are anticipated for the sector.
On September 30, the SEC finalized a rule that eases quorum requirements for rulemaking decisions, effective October 2. This change permits the agency to conduct official business with only one commissioner present, provided only two are available, with the intent to “promote flexibility and finality of agency rulemaking.”
In an October 5 Financial Times op-ed, Robin Wigglesworth described the new rules: “…with now just two commissioners around and it being entirely possible that one of them might have to recuse themselves from an issue (or be otherwise MIA), just one is now enough to pass a formal rule that applies to America’s vast multitrillion-dollar securities markets.”
This adjustment means that if one commissioner is absent or must recuse themselves, a single official could decide critical regulatory issues for the multi-trillion-dollar US securities market.
Response and outlook for future nominations
Commissioner Mark Uyeda responded in a Financial Times op-ed, emphasizing the agency’s commitment to its mission despite only two commissioners remaining and no new White House nominations. Uyeda asserted that the rule “clarifies that the Commission can establish a quorum if all but one commissioner is disqualified from a matter.”
Uyeda argued that comparing the SEC’s revised quorum rule to “fictional dystopian regimes” misleads readers, saying, “Suggesting that the SEC is ‘hastily revamp[ing]’ its quorum rule so that the remaining commissioners can ‘have their way’ makes for a colourful comparison to fictional dystopian regimes but misleads readers about why the Commission revised its quorum rule and why it’s for the better.”
As of Tuesday, the White House had not announced nominations to fill the SEC and CFTC vacancies. This situation could leave key rulemaking decisions in the hands of a single commissioner at each agency for an extended period.
Congress still has the opportunity to vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, the legislation at the center of the current debate. However, several experts say lawmakers are unlikely to advance the bill during the lame duck session between the 2026 midterm elections and the start of the next congressional session in January.
Mini dictionary: CLARITY Act, a proposed US legislative framework intended to provide clear rules and regulatory clarity for the digital asset and cryptocurrency markets.
